Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-12-30
MAINE PEDAGOGICAL SOCIETY.
Outline of Thursday Evenings WORK.

8 IN the opening session, last evening, and
: good number were present including thos
whose prominence in educational work is M
confined to the limits of our State.
n Owing to the illness of DIR. J. 0. Webster
r the welcome was extended by Judge White
: house. The welcome was most cordial, nc
curtailed by brevity nor made tedious b
length. 1t short, ii was both hearty and elc
) quent.
2 In the course of the address the speake
: gu oted from predictions of rather pes
simistic order, which had been made with re
gard to American life of the present time
He in most apt manner disposed of sucl
statements as, Americans of today have n
ideas they could be mobbed for. and other
of such ilk. He showed that the great prob
lem of today is the formation of character il
, our youth, and that this formation is in q
, large measure intrusted to our educators
now the State confdes to them the trust o.
intoxicating morality, patriotism, etc, and o
rightly training inherited tendencies.
The Presidents address, given by Prof
Files. principal of the Cony High School
had for its subject the mission of the teach
er." He treated the subject in forcibl,
and exhaustive manner, showing the care
fully matured views of an earnest worker in
the cause of education. He sad that ten
denotes of the times should be studied by
the teacher, that need was not always pop
ular demand. He advised that more heet
should be given to manual training; that il
should be more generally introduced into the
schools; that it induced industrial, intellect
ual and moral worth in people that it dig.
niiied manual labor and did away with dud-
ish inactivity.
He showed how it gaze correct views of
life and encouraged self dependence. He
quoted remark made by Mr.. Blaine to il
lustrate what early manual toll on the farm
had done and was doing for men. lie deem
ed many of our attempts to have social
problems solved by the Legislature instead of
by the schools, as unphilosophical.
millions for taking care of criminals, but
| uOt oic Stut loI tuuChtibE tut ucstitutt
child" he thought poor policy. To do
away with anarchism, SO educate the
child that he will never believe its fallacies.
He then treated at considerable length the
conditions necessary to meet the require
ments of a teacher. A teacher must be de-
voted, have sympathy, and the knack of in-
teresting the pupil to work for himself. Too
much simplitication. Let the pupil dig out
much for himself. There should be intel
lectual gymnastics as well as physical. Sell
fshness may promote enterprise but generous
hearts are needed.
The Report on Language" by Prof.
Henry l.. Chapman of Bowdon College, de-
manded the closest attention and created
great interest. Though scholarly it was per-
spicuous and rendered many very difficult
points so clear as to be easily understood and
appreciated. The train Of thought was so
connected that much of The beauty and inter-
est is lost by making an abstract, but we de-
sire to give as much as possible.
Assuming that the absolute and per-
! rect mastery OF tne TesOuTCes oI our ian-
guage is a distant and constantly receding
goal, it is wise, in the various stages of in
struction and acquisition to set up partial
and temporary standards. This is likely to
give effectiveness to the efforts of teacher
and pupil by placing before them a definite
and attainable end in place Of one that is
vague and vanishing. 1t is well, therefore,
in the endless line of effort that stretches be-
fore us in the study of language, to establish
certain parts which may serve as intermedi-
ate goals, and to divide the course into cor
responding definite stages. -Four such sta
ges of study and instruction are the glossari-
al. the grammatical, the rhetorical and the
pathological.
In the glossarial stage it should be the aim
of the teacher to put the child in possession
of words and their meanings, and TO teach
him to use them correctly and appreciatively
The main business here is to furnish him
with a vocabulary, consist ng of words the
meaning of which he thoroughly understands
His teacher fulfls for him the office of a
glossary by making clear to him the exact
meanings of terms which he must employ in
his intercourse with others, and in the further
prosecution of his studies.
Throughout the glossarial stage the child
is to look upon language as the instrument
lOT Conveying anu
knowledge, ideas; an instrument that is to be
carefully used, with precision and correct
ness, or it will fail of its purpose. In the
second stage, however, the grammatical, the
pupils attention is to be directed to the laws
and usages of language itself. and we dis
sociate the teaching grammar from
the teaching of things. The true
way to teach English grammar is to begir
with the sentence, which the child already
understands, and to analyze it into it's ele
ments, and to trace their mutual relations
By pursuing this process in all the varioui
forms of sentences, both when they stant
alone and when they are combined, we dis
cover most surely not only the real and l0gi
cal relations of the sentence to its subordi
nate members, and to coordinate and alliec
sentences, but also the characters and func
tons of the several parts of speech.
At the end of the grammatical stage thu
intelligent pupil may be expected not only Il
use such a vocabulary as he has with vivic
and accurate apprehension Of the meanings o
his words, but also to understand the names
characteristics and functions of the severa
parts Of speech, how the various parts of thu
sentence are related TO each other, how the,
are combined into complex sentences, ant
how these sentences are marshalled into con
Uecttu ulfCOufse. Will DC dDie, dibD. "
apply this knowledge correctly in writinl
such composition as falls within the range o
his powers and acquisitions. For many pur
poses this is sufficient. For the purposes O
intercourse and of ordinary business this de
gree of mastery over the resources of tn
language will answer the needs Of daily life
But the constant recurrence of grave prob
t lens in social. political and moral science
: the proper settlement of which demands pro
found and persuasive discussion, and the e1
actions of literature with its far-reaching an
benefcient influence, these things make
7 clear that language has other and higher use
. than to serve a. the medium Of social an
business intercourse in the ordinary affairs O
life. The next stage. accordingly, in tn
study Of language, is the rhetorical. In thi
stage language is studied with reference I
. its capabilities for expressing thought apprt
!, priately and effectively for the purpose
: hand. Without dsparaging grammatica
correctness, therefore, as an end in itseli
: there is abundant inducement to 60 ste
further and to seek to add to grxmmatic;